Patti, On behalf of all of us involved in family research, thanks for your effort s and tact in approaching this situation. Sara Patton ----- Original Message ----- From: "Patti McDonald" <mcd@access.mountain.net> To: <WVHAMPSH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2000 7:15 PM Subject: [WVHAMPSH-L] Hampshire County Records > Hi, > I have been reading posts regarding the Hampshire County Records, and about > suggestions of writing letters to elected officials on the Hampshire Co > Mailing List. Since this issue has been before addressed, I am sending this > to both Mineral and Hampshire County lists. > Any letters I wrote to any of these persons below and any opinions I > suggested in these letters were my own, and I did not write them as a > representative of the USGenWeb. I am writing this to you in the same respect. > > At the time all this information came out, I wrote to many people trying to > get help and understanding. > The responses I received are included in this email. > I also wrote to EACH member of the Hampshire County Commission, as well as > Delegate Mezzetesta. I received NO response from any of them. > > Dr. Frederick Armstrong is the director of the Archives and History Section > of the WV Dept of Education and Arts. > I respect his authority and have been patiently awaiting his answer. I'll > let you know as soon as I hear anything. > I wrote my letters on Nov 8, 1999. > My responses were: > > FROM ROBERT C BYRD > Nov 17, 1999 > Dr. Ms. McDonald, > Thank you for your communication with regard to access to genealogy records > in the Hampshire County Courthouse. Your concerns are understandable. > Although I always want to be helpful, I regret to advise that is a state > matter over which I have no legal authority as a US Senator. However, in an > effort to be responsive to your concerns, prompt contact was made of the WV > Dept of Education and Arts in your behalf. I am advised that you should > contact the following state official for advice and assistance in this matter: > Mr. Frederick Armstrong > Director > Archives and History Section > WV Dept of Education and the Arts > 1900 Kanawha Blvd, East > Charleston WV 25305 > 304-558-0230 > I am glad to have had the opportunity to be of assistance, and I appreciate > your taking the time to write to me. I hope that this information will > prove useful. > Assuring you of my desire to be of assistance whenever possible, I am > Sincerely yours, > Robert C Byrd > US States Senator > Committee on Appropriations > Washington DC 20510-6025 > > FROM SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER > Nov 19, 1999 > Dear Patti, > Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with me about the > problem that you are having being able to search records at the Hampshire > County Courthouse. > Unfortunately, I do not know how I can be helpful to you in this matter. I > can only suggest that you share your concerns with the Hampshire County > Commission. Hopefully, they will be able to work something out with you. > Again, Patti, thank you for sharing your concerns with me. Please let me > know if I can be helpful in any other way, > Sincerely, > Jay > John D Rockefeller > United States Senate > Washington DC 20510-4802 > > FROM CONGRESSMAN BOB WISE > Dec 1, 1999 > I appreciate your bringing to my attention the problem you are experiencing > with gaining access to the Hampshire County documents. > The Hampshire County Commission has been asked to look into this matter and > furnish me with a full report. As soon as I have a response, I will be back > in touch with you. > Very truly yours, > Bob Wise > US Representatives > Congress of the US > Washington DC 20515 > > FROM DR ARMSTRONG > Dec 7, 1999 > Dear Ms McDonald > Your letter regarding the Hampshire County records was directed to my > attention for reply. I welcome the opportunity to address your concerns > regarding the work being done on records recently re-located in the > courthouse and access to them. > The records as you say are old an in fragile condition, a condition > partially accountable to some years of neglect and imporper storage. I have > made two trips to the courthouse this fall to assist the staff in addressing > some of its accumulated records storage and access problems. Their interest > is in the right place but the limitations of staff time and resources > creates a real challenge to address the needs of the records in a timely > manner. During both visits I discussed the work being done on the > re-located records with Mr Bill rice and County Clerk Sharon Link. Mr Rice > is a volunteer, unpaid staff, working on the project to process the records > found and attempt to arrange them so they can be indexed and stored more > properly. Mr Rice has demonstrated the necessary skills for this work while > working in the courthouse records in several other WV counties. As you > stated in your letter, he has invested his time and some funds in the > purchase of acid free paper and folders. But in my conversations with him > and the clerk, his efforts are for the preservatin of the records an access > to them. > In my conversations with Mr Link and Mr Rice, we have discussed the project, > the arrangement of the various records, devolpment of the index to access > these records and arranging microfilming of these so as to preserve the > originals. The plan is to make these records accessible to the public as > soon as we can. THe index is a work in progress an as a working index, it > is not complete or accurate. The more widely the index is dispersed in this > form, the more chance there would be for insufficient information on the > records that have not yet been included as a new entry or as an addition to > an existing entry. The clerk and her staff already have an established > policy of forwarding research inquirines into older records to a volunteer > who charges for the research service. The dual chekc process you describe > in your letter was revised after a telephone discussion with me in which it > was decided that all inquiries should be handled in the same manner. I have > advised the clerk that it is in the best interest of the preservation of > these fragile records ot reduce the handling to a minimum (projects such as > this usually consider the records closed until after processing, indexing > and microfilming) so as to maintain > their condition an not compromise them for microfilming. The records must > be arranged and indexed before they can be filmed, and we will not know the > total number of record images to be filmed or the cost for filming these > records until this is complete. As the records were found after the current > budget year preparations, available budget funds and staff time may have > some direct impact on the progress of this part of the project. Th news > that there are individuals interested in donating to defray the cost of > microfilming the records is welcome. > I hope I have responded to your questions regarding access to the records so > taht you can better understand and appreciate the challenges Ms Link and Mr > Rice face, as well as put some of your concerns to rest. The index being > prepared by Mr Rice will serve as the index to the records and will be > filmed to provide access to the microfilm of these records. Once filmed, > copies of the film will be made available for the courthouse and for > purchase for the local library. It should be possible to make arrangements > for user copies to be available at other libraries, but this has not been > discussed with the clerk. We are please these records have been re-located > and are being processed so as to re-establish public access. The > discovering of records and their potential for answeres to questions we have > about history and family is exciting. We hope you and others involved in > these pursuits can exercise patience a little longer until the processing, > indexing and microfilming is complete. I look forward to working with you > and others in a mutual efforts to make West Virginia's public and historical > records better preserved and more accessible. > Sincerely, > Fred Armstrong > Director, Archives and History > (I responded with my thanks to Dr Armstrong, and relayed to him that if the > Hampshire Co Clerk had made any such statement in the first place, I'm sure > there would not have been so much misunderstanding and distress by many > genealogical researchers). > > Shortly after this, I unofficially heard that Mr Rice had "quit" his efforts. > I again emailed Dr Armstrong who told me he would look into it. > > Several weeks ago, I again emailed him His response was: > Mrs. McDonald: > I received your previous message and delayed responding in hopes of > having some positive information to share. Thus far I have been unsuccessful > in getting that information. I know Mr. Rice dropped out of the project in > November. As of earlier this month he had not returned and the process of > completing the processing of the records and the index are on hold. But, > until I have the opportunity of discussing this at length with the direct > parties, either in person or by phone, I am not in a position to give you a > definitive answer. My intentions are to find a way to conclude the > arrangement and preparation of the loose papers, complete the index and then > find the means to microfilm and make them accessible. I will try to gather > some additional information this week and get back to you then. > Sorry to be unable to provide you with a more definitive answer and for > not responding earlier. I did receive some information last week from > someone close to the project, but not enough. > Fredrick H. Armstrong > > I have been patiently biding my time, in hopes that Dr. Armstrong can come > up with a constructive way to correctly handle this situation before > creating any more havoc among us. Since this issue has again come up, I > feel I should share my responses with you. > I hope this helps all of you who are interested in writing letters, and > saves your time as to who to write to. > > Patti >